Kansas City to Las Vegas, Nevada

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ciship

Service Attendant
Joined
May 4, 2004
Messages
166
I want to take the SW Chief to as close as I can get to Las Vegas, Nevada. Should I get off at Needles or Kingman? The chief arrives middle of the night, so what would be my best choice of transportation to get to Las Vegas?
 
Easiest thing to do is buy a ticket to the stop "Las Vegas - McCarran Intl. Airport Bus Stop, NV (LAS)". It will have you travel from Kansas City to Kingman on the Chief, and then the thruway bus to the airport. The good part about doing it like this, is it guarantees the bus will not leave without you, even if the train is delayed.
 
It's a scenic drive from Kingman, too. Lots of volcanic geography/geology if you are into that sort of thing. (I spent seven months in Kingman many years ago). Unfortunately, the trip will be in the dar, unless the train is quite late...CJ
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Kingman has a Las Vegas shuttle bus. Needles has nothing.......
Does the shuttle bus wait for the train in the middle of the night to transport to Vegas? Or would we have to wait until morning to catch a shuttle?
 
Easiest thing to do is buy a ticket to the stop "Las Vegas - McCarran Intl. Airport Bus Stop, NV (LAS)". It will have you travel from Kansas City to Kingman on the Chief, and then the thruway bus to the airport. The good part about doing it like this, is it guarantees the bus will not leave without you, even if the train is delayed.
Fantastic info! Thank you so much Triley!
 
The problem with Kingman to Vegas is the times (getting in Vegas at 3:10am???) This may be stupid but one alternative would be to go all the way on the SWC to LAX and then take the 8534 to Vegas, arriving in Vegas at 4:55pm. Is an extra 13 hr, 45 min worth it to not arrive in Vegas at 3:10am? I'd do it if the alternative is getting robbed or even killed in Vegas at 3:10am.
 
RTC - the Las Vegas bus system - has several buses that serve the airport, and can get you to the Strip or downtown, or a couple of other areas with lots of hotels. From about 5am to 1 or 2am it's pretty frequent, but there's service even in the 1am-5am gap. At 3am, your option is on a big loop made by the 109 and Deuce bus routes. Uber works well in Las Vegas, too.

Anything can happen anywhere, but if I were going to pick a city to be wandering around in at 3am, or riding a bus, it would be Vegas. I've been going there two or three times a year for trade shows for 30 years, and have never had a problem or felt uncomfortable. It's a 24/7 city that's designed around tourists and business travellers. It's nothing like a big east coast city, or even like LA or San Francisco in terms of visitor safety IMHO. You need to maintain situational awareness anywhere you go, but I feel safer in the wee hours in Las Vegas than I do in broad daylight in some big cities.
 
The problem with Kingman to Vegas is the times (getting in Vegas at 3:10am???) This may be stupid but one alternative would be to go all the way on the SWC to LAX and then take the 8534 to Vegas, arriving in Vegas at 4:55pm. Is an extra 13 hr, 45 min worth it to not arrive in Vegas at 3:10am? I'd do it if the alternative is getting robbed or even killed in Vegas at 3:10am.
I won't even touch the alternative fact comment of being killed or robbed.

They can ride to LA, and then the fare is $70 more, and they would have to spend double the time on a bus (3:20 hours to 6:45). I would take my chances in the streets. I don't know that much about the shuttle, but the Amtrak covers to the airport and that's it, as far as I can tell. I would hope that the airport would be a safe place no matter what time.
 
The problem with Kingman to Vegas is the times (getting in Vegas at 3:10am???)

This may be stupid but one alternative would be to go all the way on the SWC to LAX and then take the 8534 to Vegas, arriving in Vegas at 4:55pm. Is an extra 13 hr, 45 min worth it to not arrive in Vegas at 3:10am? I'd do it if the alternative is getting robbed or even killed in Vegas at 3:10am.
Oh, good grief.

People go to Las Vegas to get robbed, by Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, and the others. That's the whole point of the visit!

Then except for the likes of Tupac Shakur, very very very few people get killed on the streets of Vegas post-midnight -- and, sadly, Tupac probably knew his killers. Who do you know in Vegas who has a beef with you? If a rare case of murder on the Strip does occur, you can be sure you would hear all about it on TV, even if the victim weren't world famous like Tupac.

So Ciship, go to Vegas. Arrive Kingston at 12:50 a.m., McCarran Airport at 3:10 a.m., get a shuttle or a bus or a cab that will take you safely to the door of your hotel by 4 a.m. Unless you go around draped in jewels like a Kardashian, your hotel room won't be a crime target by anyone besides those gangs of one-armed bandits and the like.
 
The problem with Kingman to Vegas is the times (getting in Vegas at 3:10am???)

This may be stupid but one alternative would be to go all the way on the SWC to LAX and then take the 8534 to Vegas, arriving in Vegas at 4:55pm. Is an extra 13 hr, 45 min worth it to not arrive in Vegas at 3:10am? I'd do it if the alternative is getting robbed or even killed in Vegas at 3:10am.
Oh, good grief.

People go to Las Vegas to get robbed, by Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, and the others. That's the whole point of the visit!

Then except for the likes of Tupac Shakur, very very very few people get killed on the streets of Vegas post-midnight -- and, sadly, Tupac probably knew his killers. Who do you know in Vegas who has a beef with you? If a rare case of murder on the Strip does occur, you can be sure you would hear all about it on TV, even if the victim weren't world famous like Tupac.

So Ciship, go to Vegas. Arrive Kingston at 12:50 a.m., McCarran Airport at 3:10 a.m., get a shuttle or a bus or a cab that will take you safely to the door of your hotel by 4 a.m. Unless you go around draped in jewels like a Kardashian, your hotel room won't be a crime target by anyone besides those gangs of one-armed bandits and the like.
Thanks Philly.......I agree that we should be fine. What I don't know is if we can check in to a hotel at 4:00 in the morning?
 
Thanks Philly.......I agree that we should be fine. What I don't know is if we can check in to a hotel at 4:00 in the morning?
The hotels have 24-hour desks, but you'll want to call to make sure they have your room ready. You'll also want to let them know about the late check-in so they don't give your room away. 4:00 is kind of a grey area between "late" and "early" check-in.

Some hotels will pro-rate that night's fee since you weren't there the entire night, but I wouldn't count on it. It never hurts to ask, though.
 
I have not taken the shuttle from Kingman, but years ago it ran from Needles to Las Vegas instead, and I have taken that. The ride is not bad at all. And being that it goes right to the airport, which is 24 hours anyway, there are numerous transportation choices into Las Vegas itself, including rental cars. With the bus from LA, it goes to the bus station in downtown. And the choices are basically taxis or city buses to get to the Strip 7 miles away.

Depending how tired you are, you may not even want to check into your hotel upon arrival. LV is a 24 hour city and you may want to play in the casinos and win (hopefully :giggle: ). I used to live south of LV, and once when I missed my midnight bus and had to wait until 7 am for the next bus. I spent the wait in the casinos and cafes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top